Vulnerability Note VU#28027

Overview

Attackers are using the presence of the dgld service to identify SGI IRIX systems.

Description

The CERT/CC has received multiple reports of an apparent vulnerability in the Distributed GL Daemon on SGI IRIX systems. Upon further investigation, it is our belief that no vulnerability exists in dgld. However, this activity is still significant in that it allows attackers to identify systems running IRIX, which can subsequently be attacked via vulnerabilities such as the ObjectServer (VU#16642) or df (VU#20851) vulnerabilities.

Impact

Remote users scanning for a dgld service running port on port 5232 may be able to identify victim sites running IRIX.

Solution

The CERT/CC does not believe that there is a vulnerability in dgld. However, sites that do not use dgld should disable it on IRIX hosts to avoid exposing information about the nature of such hosts.